Category: All Things Iceland Episodes (Page 6 of 6)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:21 — 26.1MB) | Embed

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Besides the Reykjavík area, the South Coast of Iceland is by far the most popular part of the country that is featured on social media, blogs and in one of Justin Bieber’s music videos. People from around the world are flocking there in droves. According to  the Icelandic Tourism Board’s statistics for 2017, during the winter 55% of the travelers that come to Iceland traveled to the South and in the summer, a whopping 71% of travelers to the country went to that region. It is without a doubt a very popular place but it might make one wonder, “Is it really worth the hype?”

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:37 — 28.7MB) | Embed

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I had the pleasure of chatting with Derek Allen, a hyper-polyglot from the United States who is studying Icelandic and lives in Reykjavík. During this lively interview, you will hear about how many languages Derek speaks, how he maintains the languages that he has learned, his tips for language learners, what it is like living in Iceland, particularly as a person of color. You will also hear some other random facts about him. Just to give you an example of a random fact, Derek shared with me after the show that his favorite pastimes include talking to strangers on the internet and posing nude on the beach. Below is one of Derek’s nude photos. We had a blast chatting and I hope you enjoy this episode.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:36 — 13.8MB) | Embed

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When does summer in Iceland start?

While most Icelandic people agree that the weather is more “summery” in June, the beginning of summer in Iceland is officially celebrated on the first Thursday after April 18th. In Icelandic, this day is called Sumardagurinn Fyrsti and it is an official holiday. The ironic part is that, historically, the weather is not very good on that day. If you had the opportunity to listen to Episode 5 of the All Things Iceland podcast, which is titled – What is Winter Like in Iceland?, you would have heard me mention that the winter and summer season start and end dates are according to the Old Norse calendar.  If you haven’t listened to that episode yet, I recommend checking it out. It is amazing how different these two seasons are.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:23 — 23.8MB) | Embed

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During this episode of All Things Iceland, I give you the low down on what you can expect during an Icelandic winter. While long, dark winter nights can sound awful,  you can easily survive it by knowing what to expect and by using some of the coping mechanisms I share in this episode.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:53 — 21.0MB) | Embed

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As I mentioned in part one of the “6 Reasons Why Iceland is so Popular” episode, this amazing country has many reasons for why people are flocking to it. In this episode, I share my final three out of six reasons. Make sure you check out the first three reasons I shared in the last episode of the All Things Iceland podcast.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:15 — 19.1MB) | Embed

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Iceland’s popularity has been booming over the last 10 years. In fact, it is hard to find a “must-see” destination list without this amazing country being featured. While there are many reasons why this small, island nation located in the Atlantic ocean is so popular, I am sharing my top six. I split this list into two parts to keep the episodes relatively short. Also, the list is in no particular order because I believe that each of the reasons that I share continue to have a major impact on the country’s popularity. Below are three out of six.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:19 — 14.6MB) | Embed

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How the Icelandic Language Came to Be

The history of the Icelandic language dates all the way back to the 9th century, when settlers, mostly from Norway, came to live in Iceland. What was spoken at that time was Old Norse and this eventually evolved into Old Icelandic. Like many cultures, the language was passed on through spoken word before being preserved in the form of text. Impressively, the oldest preserved text in Icelandic was written around 1100.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:00 — 48.6MB) | Embed

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I had the pleasure of interviewing Jesse Byock, professor of Old Norse and Medieval Scandinavian Studies at UCLA and Háskóli Íslands for the All Things Iceland Podcast. We sat down in his lovely apartment in Reykjavík to chat about his book “Viking Language 1: Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas”.

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